Pete LaRoca Sims R.I.P.

[BFrank]

Nice piece on the BN website

Pete La Roca Sims 1938-2012

[colinmce]

Thanks for the link. I probably haven't visited the Blue Note website since at least 2010. It's much, much improved.

[imeanyou]

Bummer. Sims made some great recordings, should have recorded more ( I read that he went off to become a lawyer). I'll put on Basra and Turkish Women tonight for some memories, RIP.

[paul secor]

Too many deaths lately.

Goodbye, Mr. Sims.

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

its almost harder, after knowing last weeks news update. god bless him. -rip-

[mikeweil]

Basra is among the legendary 1960's Blue Note albums - I was glad when I finally located a copy of a Japanese reissue in the 1980's. I remember how myterious the Douglas LP sounded to me back then.

Another legend has passed ... R.I.P.

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

incredible bluenote.com did that, fantastic.

[sidewinder]

A fine obituary in today's Guardian newspaper - http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2012/nov/29/pete-la-roca

[musicmargaret]

There will be a memorial celebration of the life and music of Pete LaRoca Sims on Friday, Dec. 28th, 2O12 at St. Peter's Lutheran Church, 619 Lexington Ave. at 54th St., Manhattan (NYC), 212-935-22OO, <http://www.saintpeters.org>, <jtarbet@saintpeters.org>, suggested donation $25. Invited players include Carl Allen, Joanne Brackeen, George Cables, Charles Davis, Henry Grimes, Slide Hampton, Louis Hayes, Bill Kirchner, Steve Kuhn, Dave Liebman, Jimmy Owens, Larry Ridley, Lew Tabackin, David Weiss, Michael Weiss, et al., suggested donation $25. Subways: E or M train to Lexington Ave. & 53rd St., or 6 train to 51st St. and Lexington, or 4, 5, 6, N, Q, R trains to 59th St. & Lexington. Buses: M57 and M31 to Lexington Ave. and 57th St., or M5O bus to Lexington Ave. & 5Oth St. or 49th St., or M1O1 and 1O3 buses south on Lexington Ave. or north on Third Ave. to 54th St. Google area map: http://tinyurl.com/cpzoffg.

Edited December 17, 2012 by musicmargaret

[Ken Dryden]

The first time I went to NYC (1997), I got to hear Pete sitting in for Bill Goodwin with the Phil Woods Quintet. He was a terrific drummer, it is shame he had only sporadic opportunities to work after his continuous rants against fusion.

[Big Wheel]

it is shame he had only sporadic opportunities to work after his continuous rants against fusion.

This doesn't seem to be how things really went down.

http://www.tomajazz....s_peter_eng.htm

Q - What are the reasons that forced you to leave the music profession to became a lawyer to practice show business law?

Peter Sims - Although it's a common misconception, I never did, or even thought, anything remotely related to leaving music. You refer (below) to the critical time when Fusion arose. Fusion has been my nemesis and put me out of business.

A few examples: 1. I once played with a fine Jazz composer/arranger for a couple of years. He then decided to do an album with a very popular Rhythm & Blues singer. It was probably commercially advantageous for his band. But it required that I play the BackBeat and Shuffle - extremely repetitive (and boring) straight-eighth timekeeping, and the basis of Fusion. I protested. I was never asked to play with that band again.

2. I once played for a fine Jazz soloist who was much favored by the "industry," i.e., there were many forces at work to make him that year's Golden Boy. He decided to do a recording that combined his ensemble with The Byrds. Well, clearly, The Byrds were not suddenly going to become swinging improvisors (to this day, they have not). Instead, I was expected to accommodate them by "swinging" straight eighths (that's Fusion again, folks). Again I protested. And, again, I couldn't play with that band again.

3. After I recorded Basra and Turkish Women, John Hammond at Columbia Records decided to record a great Jazz saxophonist with an East Indian singer. The ensemble was the sax quartet (including me), the singer, and an Indian band including sitar, tabla, etc. Frankly, the music was divine - with one glaring exception. Hammond, hoping to appeal to the broadest possible audience, included a Rock drummer. How was that related to this ensemble? I could easily fit in with the Jazz/Indian concept and the resulting fine rhythmic filigrees - but, not with a Rock drummer slamming a BackBeat. Again, I protested - actually, I refused to proceed as long as the Rock drummer was involved. They sent in a couple of guys who looked liked they wanted to break both my legs. I continued to refuse. The recording was cancelled. And, I became a Bad Boy. Blackballed! Not to be hired. My calls not to be answered.

After incident no. 2, I didn't get many gigs for my band or calls to play as a sideman. My ex-wife then being pregnant, I started driving a taxi to pay the bills. After incident no. 3 - and five years of taxi driving - it was clear that the situation was not going to improve anytime soon.

So even by Sims's own admission his difficulties getting work weren't an ideological thing, related to his "ranting" - they were the direct result of him refusing to do stuff in the studio. That might not be nice, asking a guy to whore himself out and play music he doesn't want to play (and possibly ignoring him as a "difficult" character for sessions that he might want to play), but it's not appropriate to claim that he was blacklisted for a heterodox viewpoint.

They were going to play fusion, with or without him. He had made abundantly clear that he wouldn't play rock. Why would they want to keep hiring a guy who refuses to play the music you want to make?

Edited December 17, 2012 by Big Wheel